Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) will release its third quarter earnings on Oct. 17, and one of the areas analysts will be looking closely at is revenue growth in advertising. Trefis analysts note that the company’s revenue in this area has been slowing down, forcing it to look elsewhere to continue growing. One of the other areas the search giant has been searching for growth in is its Motorola division, so analysts will also be examining that division for signs of growth.
Google’s growth in search ads is slowing
Of course at this point Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) still gets the bulk of its value from advertising. Standard PC search ads made up more than 30 percent of the search giant’s overall value and 60 percent of its revenues, according to analysts at Trefis. However, the one area that is slowing is PC search ads. Also the company’s U.S. search share remains flat at 67 percent, according to comScore.
Because of how important search is to Google, the company has been looking to boost market share in this area and maintain dominance in PC search. The company has begun connecting with original equipment manufacturers like Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ), Toshiba, Acer and others for the launch of the next generation Chromebook. This will provide a big boost for Google because the Chromebook’s default search engine is Google. As a result, the search giant could see its market share increase if Chromebook sales increase.
Trefis analysts believe PC search ad revenue will keep growing because of an increase in the number of searches being performed and the resulting paid clicks from those searches. However, they suggest that revenue per search for PCs will continue to decline because advertisers are starting to turn more of their budget toward mobile search. The analysts said they will be examining the metrics on this topic to gain a better understanding of this trend.
Google to see growth in mobile ad revenue
According to Trefis, mobile search ads make up about a third of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s value. They estimate that the search giant’s mobile revenues more than doubled last year to about $5.2 billion from $2.5 billion in 2011. Gartner predicts that worldwide mobile ad revenue will pass $11 billion this year and that the growth rate for ad revenue will pass 400 percent between 2011 and 2016.
As a result, even though mobile ads are expected to only generate 17 percent of Google’s total revenues this year, they expect the amount to hit almost 30 percent by 2015. In next week’s earnings announcement, Trefis analysts said they would be focusing on the company’s advertising run rate as well as growth in Google’s Android platform usage.
Google’s Motorola Moto X launched
The analysts also said they will be looking at sales of the Moto X handset, which launched during the third quarter. Motorola Mobility has been losing money for Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) since the search giant acquired it last year. Trefis analysts will be looking to see how many Moto X handsets the company sold during the quarter. They also want to know how the search giant plans to stem losses in its handset division.
Trefis currently has an $865 per share price estimate for Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG).
